After the Windows crash report from earlier today where we couldn't do much, here is an example for one where we could help on MacOS.
When you find a crash report in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports folder (for server software) or ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports (for user software), you can try to read where it crashed and maybe avoid that code or fix the data processed by the code to avoid the problem.
The crash report we check today start with this basic info:
Date/Time: 2019-09-26 13:32:54.009 +0200
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.13.6 (17G8030)
Report Version: 12
Anonymous UUID: 3BB48127-8D6B-D79A-BCF9-09FEA3400430
As you can read, we have the process name fmscwpc, which is FileMaker Server Custom Web Publishing Client as far as I know. This is the process of FileMaker Server handling requests for WebDirect. It runs here on MacOS 10.13 and you see the timestamp when it happens. When you can reproduce the issue, you may get a few crash reports, so having times may help to distinguish them.
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On Windows if an application like FileMaker Server crashes, you'll find a dmp file for the crash. For example in C:\WINDOWS\MiniDump folder. Once you got the file, you wonder how to read it. It seems like the best was is to use WinDbg application from Microsoft.
First you download the Windows 10 SDK, mount the disk image and run the installer. From all the options in WinSDKSetup, you only need the entry for "Debugging Tools for Windows". All the other entries can be unchecked. So instead of installing several GB of data, only 160 MB are installed.
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Am 19. November 2019 findet eine MBS Schulung in Meilen am Zürichsee statt. Wir treffen uns ab 9 Uhr im Restaurant Löwen in einem separaten Schulungsraum. Nutzen Sie die Chance die 5000 Funktionen des MBS FileMaker Plugins kennen zu lernen und neue Ideen für Ihre FileMaker Lösungen mit zu nehmen.
Geplantes Programm:
Präsentation zum MBS Plugin mit einem Überblick über die Funktionalität.
Demonstration von neuen Funktionen in der Version 9.x.
Rundgang durch ausgewählte Beispiele
Zeit für Fragen
Bitte schicken Sie uns ihre Themenwünsche. Eventuell können wir gerne was zu Kartenleser, Barcodes, Webservices, MacOS Catalina oder Runtime Signieren/Notarisieren mit unterbringen.
Die Teilnahme kostet 150 CHF bzw. 135 Euro. Mittagessen im Restaurant inklusive.
Maximal 12 Teilnehmer. Anmeldung bei uns: Anmelden
PS: Die Schulung findet statt, da die Mindestteilnehmerzahl erreicht wurde.
Am gleichen Tag lädt die Medio-Ingeno AG zu einem FileMaker Event ein: FMnext XP III
Ab 17:30 Uhr gibt es im Gewölbekeller im Restaurant Löwen in Meilen ein buntes Programm mit Vorträgen zu FileMaker.
Mal wieder packen wir die Koffer und fahren zur Deutschen FileMaker Konferenz. Dieses Jahr findet in Hamburg die 10. FileMaker Konferenz statt. Wenn ich so durch zähle, habe ich neun mit erlebt, also alle bis auf die erste. Auf jeden Fall haben wir ein Jubiläum mit 10 Konferenzen organisiert vom Verein FM Konferenz und dazu noch das 25 Jahre Jubiläum vom K&K Verlag.
Fahren wir ganz entspannt nach Hamburg. Diesmal ohne Flugzeug, ohne verpassten Anschlussflug, ohne Umsteigen, ohne Sicherheitskontrolle, ohne Zoll und Grenze, ohne Vorabbuchung, einfach einsteigen in Koblenz am Bahnhof und dann in Hamburg wieder aussteigen.
Wir sind gespannt auf Stefanies ersten Vortrag zu den Kartenfunktionen im MBS Plugin. Mal schauen wie sich Stefanie schlägt und welche Fragen da kommen. Aber für Fragen bin ich ja auch noch da.
Einmal im Jahr trifft sich die Gemeinde der FileMaker Liebhaber und natürlich fragen wir uns was die vielen Kollegen eigentlich gemacht haben seit der Konferenz in Liechtenstein?
Welche Funktionen in FileMaker 18 kommen gut an und wo gibt es noch Probleme?
Wie ist das Interesse am FileMaker Marketplace, Claris Connect und der neuen FileMaker Cloud?
Welche neuen Tipps und Tricks sollte man wissen?
Freuen wir uns auf eine tolle Konferenz in Hamburg und vorher noch eine recht volle MBS Plugin Schulung. Kommen Sie am MBS Plugin Stand vorbei und bringen Sie ihre Fragen mit!
Improved JPEG detection for byte streams, so we can detect if a PNG is actually a JPEG. Now GMImage.NewFromContainer can read JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF and BMP even if they are passed in wrong container format.
Fixed problem on Windows with returning pictures, where Clipboard.GetPicture would return a flipped image.
Fixed problem with Clipboard.GetPicture, when the picture comes without alpha channel.
Fixed crash in Hash.Digest function when passing invalid file path for file.
Fixed CURL script trigger to avoid potential crash.
Fixed SQL connection cleanup to avoid potential crash.
Fixed a problem in the Linux version for FileMaker Cloud for AWS, which caused random crashes (introduced in August).
In the last week we did some heavy testing on FileMaker Servers with parallel running scripts. When you run a dozen scripts in parallel using the same MBS functions, there is a lot of code accessing the same global data in memory.
For example when one script walks over a list of objects and another script removes an item from that list, there could be a problem that first script accesses the just deleted item in the list. To avoid that we use a lot of mutex objects for synchronization.
For some months now we try to do automated tests to check if our mutex handling is rock solid. You may have seen the Plugin.CallCounter function we added and wonder who needs it. For us it's a great way to see how many calls the test made. With some test runs, this count goes up far over a million.
For version 9.3 we had a few bug reports from two users, who run into issues. We did some test scripts and found the issues, fixed them and got clients happy. Version 9.4 includes all the fixes with improved mutex handling to avoid global variable access for this and similar cases. But this week, we went further and discovered two other issues, which may cause trouble. As with all those tests, it's unlikely in the real world you have several scripts calling the same functions at the same time and actually see a problem in normal usage.
Nevertheless when you test something more, you find issues. We are happy to fix two potential issues, which no customer yet reported, but we found them in our own tests: One potential issue with CURL script trigger and one in SQL connection cleanup. For linux we found another issue, which can cause a memory corruption after a few hours and this may need thousands of calls. If you use MBS FileMaker Plugin on FileMaker Cloud for AWS, please try the 9.5pr3 version as soon as we get it uploaded tomorrow.
If you find a script that uses MBS FileMaker Plugin to sometimes crash, please let us know and we could try to repeat it here. Sometimes a function needs to be called a lot of times or in multiple parallel running scripts. Some crashes occur only with a low probability or depend on external factors like network conditions. We try hard to get the plugin rock solid for you.
The new FileMaker Cloud offer is coming soon. Claris International Inc. announced it at the FileMaker DevCon in Orlando this year and as far as we know it will be released to public later in October 2019.
Monkeybread Software has been able to test the new Cloud offering and we think it is a great upgrade for existing users. Within the next three years, we expect a lot of clients to move to the new Cloud offering. The improved consoles for management of the servers and the improved admin console alone may lead to some admins to request the move!
The older FileMaker Cloud for AWS is set get support till end of the year 2021. Not sure if the those FileMaker Cloud servers on AWS can run indefinitely or need to be migrated as eventually no licenses will be extended or security problems make it impossible to keep them running.
Currently we try to assemble a list of users with FileMaker Cloud for AWS and a need for MBS Plugin. We support FileMaker Cloud for AWS with a specific Linux plugin version since September 2016. Once the last client stops using our plugin on FileMaker Cloud for AWS servers, we can retire our support for this platform.
MBS Xojo Plugins in version 19.4 have been updated to handle changes for API 2.0 in Xojo 2019r2. A couple of plugin classes and functions have updated declarations to make them working with framework modifications. Our SQL Plugin got updated for prepared statement, which now has a SelectSQL function. MacCocoa, MacCF, ComputerControl and Util plugins got some declarations updated for console/web projects.
The Xojo plugin SDK functions for handling FSRef got removed as Xojo now uses CFURLRef internally for folder items. We updated a couple of plugin functions to now use CFURLRef or NSURL ourselves for file references. But as we still have some older plugin functions using FSRef to do work, we ourselves have support functions to create FSRef on the fly from CFURL and other way around. This keeps old code working. But if you use older plugins in Xojo 2019r2, you may see the following functions fail.
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New in this prerelease of version 9.5 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Updated zint library to version 2.6.7.
Updated SQLite to version 3.30.0.
Added new tag "smaller bigger sign color" for SyntaxColoring.AddTag function to give <> in formula a different color.
Added new tag "global variable color" for SyntaxColoring.AddTag function to give global variables a different color.
Fixed problem with returning NSImages. Now passing pixel size to FileMaker, so images with DPI > 72 show correctly in container. e.g. for PDFKit.GetPDFPageImage function.
Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.32.93.
Fixed FileDialog functions to not show always the create directory button.
Das MBS FileMaker Plugin ist mit mehr als 5900 Funktionen das größte für FileMaker erhältliche Plugin. Im September 2019 ist die Version 9.4 erschienen. Welche neuen Funktionen diese Version mit sich bringt, möchte ich in diesem Artikel verraten.
Barcodes mit JSON generieren
Sie können mit der neuen Funktion „Barcode.GenerateJSON“ Barcodes generieren, indem Sie den Text und weitere Eigenschaften als Elemente eines JSON Objektes übergeben. Ihr JSON könnte dann z.B so aussehen:
{
"symbology": "QRCode",
"Text": "Hello World",
"Scale": 4
}
Der Barcode wird als Bildreferenz zurückgegeben und kann dann z.B. mit der Funktion "GMImage.WriteToPNGContainer"in einen Container geschrieben werden.
Liste eingebetteter E-Mails
Die neue Funktion „EmailParser.AttachedEmails“ liefert uns eine Liste der ID’s der Emails, die in einer Mail eingebettet sind.
Audiodatei Informationen als JSON
Mit der Funktion „Files.AudioTags“ können sie Informationen zu einer Audiodatei abrufen. Sie bekommen diese Informationen dann als JSON Objekt zurückgeliefert. Das JSON Objekt kann Informationen wie Länge, Bitrate, Abtastrate und Kanal liefern. Aber auch weitergehende Informationen wie Künstler oder Titel werden im JSON als Objekt, falls vorhanden, angegeben. Im Gegenzug können wir mit der Funktion „Files.SetAudioTags" Informationen mit Hilfe eines JSON Objektes für eine Audio Datei setzen.
Learn something new. With API 2.0, new Web Framework and Android coming soon and recent changes for MacOS Catalina, take the chance to learn information from first hand and ask your questions.
Networking with peers Find new contacts, people that may help you with problems. Try to ask everyone what they do and build a list of experts. Meet the people from the Xojo forum and thank them for their help in the past.
Encounter new vendors and suppliers Meet developers from plugins, components, training and other services. Use their services to provide greater values to your clients.
Position yourself as an expert Let others know what you know and can do, so they can hire your services. Build a reputation as a valuable member of the community.
Have fun! Leave your office and have a great time with other developers. Use your visit to Cologne for some sight seeing.
FileMaker Inc. just released FileMaker in version 18.0.3 a few days ago.
This release includes the required info.plist keys and entitlements we asked for, so our functions for contacts, calendars, audio/video recording and much more works again. Those were limited or blocked with version 18.0.2 due to hardened runtime. So we are happy to see this improvements!
Please note that FileMaker made changes with Server and Client and you should prefer to update both at the same time to avoid trouble.
For runtimes, please notice that FileMaker Pro 18.0.2 and 18.0.3 use hardened runtime, so all runtimes loading external libraries like database driver or DynaPDF library needs to have those libraries code signed with the same team certificate as the main application.
The error message sounds like "code signature in xxx not valid for use in process using Library Validation: mapping process and mapped file (non-platfonn) have different Team IDs".
Fixed Constructor for EKCalendarMBS class to not complain about missing EKReminder class.
Fixed problem in DynaPDF with rendering Asian characters.
Fixed problem with DynaPDF Graphics to fill FigureShape objects.
Changed BackupInit in SQLite3MBS and SQLiteBackupInit in SQLConnectionMBS and SQLDatabaseMBS classes to take variant and accept both database and connection object for dest and source.
Added DB2SQLExecDirect and DB2SQLRowCount methods to SQLCommandMBS class.
In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Verein FM Konferenz bieten wir eine Schulung zum MBS Plugin an. Am 16. Oktober 2019 können Sie in Hamburg, Deutschland an einer eintägigen Schulung teilnehmen. Lernen Sie die über 5000 Funktionen einmal näher kennen und wie Sie sie effektiv einsetzen. Sammeln Sie Ideen und verbessern Sie ihre FileMaker Lösungen durch den Einsatz unseres Plugins.
Das Monkeybread Software Plugin für FileMaker stellt eine vielseitige Erweiterung der eigenen Datenbank dar. Der Kurs bietet nicht nur einen tiefgreifenden Überblick in die Benutzung und Entwicklung, sondern bietet auch die Chance das Plugin günstiger zu erstehen.
Einführung in das MBS Plugin
Überblick über die Funktionsbereiche
Neues im MBS Plugin dieses Jahr und in der dann aktuellen Version
Rundgang durch ausgewählte Beispiele
Gemeinsames Implementieren von Plugin Funktionen in eine Datenbank.
Upload/Download mit CURL auf einen HTTP/FTP Server
Ausfüllen eines Formulars auf einer Webseite
Bilder bearbeiten
PDF Verarbeitung
Druckerfunktionen
Barcodes und Zahlungsscheine
Einbinden von Webservices with JSON/XML für REST/SOAP.
Senden und Empfangen von Emails.
Fragen und Antworten
Die Teilnahme kostet 119 Euro (Frühbucher bis 16. Juli 2019) bzw. 149 Euro inkl. Verpflegung und MWSt.. Trainer ist der Plugin Entwickler und Monkeybread Software Geschäftsführer Christian Schmitz persönlich. Beginn gegen 9 Uhr und Ende gegen 17 Uhr.
Anmeldung bei Monkeybread Software. Schulung findet statt. Mindestteilnehmerzahl erreicht!
Am Abend vorher treffen wir uns zum gemütlichen Beisammensein im Restaurant vom Konferenzhotel. Im Anschluss an die Schulung können Sie gleich rüber zum Apero gehen und die anderen Teilnehmer kennen lernen.
Bei Fragen und Themenwünschen melden Sie sich bitte direkt bei uns.
Weiter Schulungstermine: 7. Nov 2019 bei der Denkform in Wiesbaden, 19. November in Meilen.
Yesterday we got a call from a good client asking for a IPCSocket replacement in Xojo. The existing IPCSocket class in Xojo didn't work for them when using a Windows service.
So we started yesterday evening with the development of our new WindowsPipeMBS class. The class can work client or server side, so you can either create a pipe or connect to one. When the connection is made, we fire the Connected event and in case the pipe breaks, we fire the PipeBroken event. There you can close the pipe and create or connect a new pipe.
For a pipe you can define the name which is used to refer to the pipe. You define the buffer size for the input and output buffers. And when using applications running in different user accounts, we can allow other users to connect. This allows especially a service to be connected by a normal user application.
To send data, we got a Write method, which takes either MemoryBlock or String to send. When data arrives, the DataAvailable event is triggered. You can check the given parameters there or use the BytesAvailable property to know how much data is there. With Peek function, you can look at the data you need or use PeekAll at all the data in the incoming buffer. With Read or RealAll you can read the content of the buffer and remove it from there.
The pipe can be run in message mode. Default is to run in byte mode, which means you read and write just bytes. When using message mode, each call to Write creates a message. When you read on the other side, you get each message as one block. So in data available handler you get a call for each message with MessageBytesAvailable property showing the size. When you call ReadAll, you get just the content of message, even if more data is in the buffer. Once a message is read, you can read the next message. Message mode is great, when your payload is for example JSON data.
We hope you enjoy the new class and our customer is happy as they got the desired class in less than 24h.
The WindowsPipeMBS class will be part of the MBS Xojo Plugins 19.5.
Six months till the XOJO.CONNECT 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. You have a few days left for early bird pricing:
It will be held March 25-27, 2020 in Nashville, TN at the Sheraton Music City Hotel. Registration is currently $200 off full price till 15th Sep 2019 ($799 instead of $999). Please sign up early to get the best deal.
Check out our conference highlights video if you want to see what it's like - or ask one of the many attendees from the forum!
Looking for a conference this year? Join the European Xojo Conference 2019 in Cologne, October 24-25th.
PS: If you fly from Europe, it can be cheaper for the tickets to add a few extra days and stop for example in New York compared to flying directly.
Worked today on new slides for upcoming FileMaker Konferenz in Hamburg. Always hard to decide which slides to kick with older features and which newer features to present with new slide or just list on a misc slide.
After the Windows crash report from earlier today where we couldn't do much, here is an example for one where we could help on MacOS. 
Mal wieder packen wir die Koffer und fahren zur Deutschen 
New in this prerelease of version 9.5 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
New in this prerelease of the 19.5 plugins:
The new FileMaker Cloud offer is coming soon. Claris International Inc. announced it at the FileMaker DevCon in Orlando this year and as far as we know it will be released to public later in October 2019.
Just three weeks left before our conference & training for Xojo starts. 
This release includes the required info.plist keys and entitlements we asked for, so our functions for contacts, calendars, audio/video recording and much more works again. Those were limited or blocked with version 18.0.2 due to hardened runtime. So we are happy to see this improvements!
In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Verein 
